Se connecter***Olivia's POV***The heavy click of the front door closing behind Mika and Hannah echoed. I didn't move from the dining chair. My laptop screen had gone black, reflecting my own nervous expression. I could hear his footsteps, slow and steady, moving from his chair to me. "Olivia—" "Mika was just exaggerating. She talks too much, you know that. It's just because we’ve worked together since freshman year. It’s purely academic. It’s nothing." "Look at me." I forced my chin up. He wasn't across the room anymore. He was standing right in front of me, looking down at me. The wholesome warmth from earlier was gone. He reached up, slowly undoing his tie and pulling it free from his collar, dropping it onto the table. "Kneel," he commanded. My breath hitched. "Chandler, please, let’s just talk—" "I said kneel." I pushed my chair back, the legs scraping loudly against the floor. My heart was hammering in my chest so hard it hurt. I moved to the floor, my knees hitting the f
***Olivia’s POV*** The fear Seraphina planted in my chest didn't go away. It sat there, cold and heavy, even as the days blurred into weeks. For the last two weeks, either Seraphina was here with Gelo, acting like she owned the place, or Chandler was gone for hours at a time to the hotel they were staying at. With school break coming to an end in a few days, I needed a distraction before I lost my mind. I invited Mika and Hannah over to help me finish some projects, but mostly so I wouldn't have to be alone with my thoughts. "Girl, you are literally staring at the doorway," Mika said, throwing a crumpled piece of paper at me. "Focus. We need to finish these slides." I blinked, looking down at my laptop. "I'm focusing." "No, you're not," Hannah said, leaning back in the dining chair. "You’re down bad, Olivia. Like, actually obsessed. You were never like this with Drake. You were clingy with him, sure, but with Mr. Stirling? It's becoming scary." I felt my cheeks heat up.
***Olivia’s POV*** I was back in my art room, trying to focus on a new painting, but my mind was still replaying the look on Seraphina’s face in the living room. I felt a strange mix of thrill and nerves. I had marked my territory, but I knew she wasn’t the type to just walk away. The door creaked open, and I expected it to be Chandler. Instead, a small head of ginger hair peeked through. Gelo looked around the room, his eyes wide as they landed on the canvases. "Whoa," he whispered, stepping inside. "Are these all yours?" I softened immediately, setting my paint brush down. "Most of them. Do you like them?" He walked up to a landscape I just started working on today, his small fingers hovering over the dried paint. "It looks like the garden outside! Can you teach me?" "Teach you?" I chuckled, pulling out a small clean paint brush for him. "I’m not that very good, little guy. I’m still learning myself." "No," he said firmly, shaking his head. "Daddy says you’re the best
***Olivia’s POV*** I woke up feeling the heavy, comfortable ache of a body that had been thoroughly fucked. I just lay there, naked under the sheets. Chandler was already gone, but the bed still felt warm. My thoughts drifted back to his confession. The betrayal, the cheating, the fact that Gelo wasn’t even his. I sat up and looked at myself in the full-length mirror. I started to count the hickeys he left on me. One, two, three... a dark, blossoming purple kiss marks right on the curve of my shoulder, another on my collarbone. He had been so intense last night, like he was trying to pour all his stress and all his possession into my skin. I knew Gelo was coming today, and I knew Seraphina wouldn’t stay behind. I got ready, picking out a black dress that looked modest enough, but if I moved a certain way, the marks on my neck were impossible to miss. By ten, I heard the car pull up. My heart did a slow, heavy beat. I stayed at the top of the stairs, watching the door open.
***Chandler's POV*** I didn't move. I didn't let my gaze waver from the sleeping boy in my arms, though I could feel Seraphina’s stare like a lie detector. She was fishing. She was always fishing, looking for the one loose thread she could pull to unravel the life I was building away from her. "I’m eager to be done with the legalities, Sera," I said, my voice sounding a little threatening. "Our marriage has been a cold for two years. Don't try to pin that on a girl who wasn't even in the country when we fell apart." "A girl," Seraphina echoed, her lips curving into a smile that was anything but kind. "Is that what she is? Because from where I was standing this morning, she looked like a woman who was very aware... very mature for her age." "I'm her guardian," I repeated, finally looking up at her. "She’s under my protection. If I’m protective, it’s because I made a promise to James." "Oh come on, Chad. I know you. I know that look. If you’re keeping her in that house, it’s
***Chandler’s POV*** Seraphina sat next to me, her perfume filling the small space of the car, talking about something but I didn’t hear a word she said.My head was still back at the house, thinking about the way Olivia looked at me before I left. I just knew she was gonna be in my room when I get home. "We're here, sir," Marcus said from the front seat, pulling the car into the hotel’s private drive. The moment we arrived at the hotel room, the weight of the day dropped off my shoulders. A blue pajamas and messy ginger hair came running down towards me. "Daddy!" Gelo hit my legs with enough force to make me stumble back a step. I didn't care. I reached down and hauled him up into my arms, burying my face in the crook of his neck.He smelled like baby shampoo and the faint scent of the chest rub. He was warm, a little too warm from the fever, but he was here. "Hey, little man," I whispered, squeezing him tight. "I missed you." "I missed you more, Daddy!" Gelo said,







